


all that counts is here and now, and this is me

by green_tea31



Series: MacGyver Season 3 Tags [3]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Episode Tag, Family, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 22:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16438400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_tea31/pseuds/green_tea31
Summary: Tag to 3x05. Riley needs to say something to Mac. Things turn out differently than she expected. It's all about family in the end.





	all that counts is here and now, and this is me

**Author's Note:**

> This is me working out my feels about the last two episodes. I still don't like him but I have to give Mac's dad credit for the insight he showed in this episode. Seems he's pretty aware of his feelings after all which is not something I had expected from the man we met in the season two finale. 
> 
> English is not my first language. Self-betaed, all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Title taken from Doctor Who which I have been binge watching this weekend.

It’s already dark outside but Mac hasn’t gone home yet when Riley finds him sitting in one of the Phoenix labs. She hesitates at the door for a moment, taking in his slumped form, he looks like he’s been through a lot over the last few hours and if anything Riley’s heard over the grapevine about his last mission is true, he has.

“Hey Mac.” His head snaps up, he hasn’t heard her come in which means he was probably half asleep already. Normally it’s almost impossible to sneak up on him when he isn’t knee-deep into building something.

“Riley.” Mac blinks at her, confused. It’s kind of adorable to be honest. Riley’s never had a brother growing up but she imagines it would feel like this. All fondness mixed with exasperation.

She smiles at him. “Shouldn’t you be at home, sleeping? From what I heard, you three had a pretty rough time in Mexico.” Speaking of…”Where’s Jack? Can’t imagine he’d just leave you here like this.”

Riley knows Mac and Jack had a few things to work out after Mac’s return but they’d obviously smoothed over whatever had been going on because lately you could rarely find one without the other. Well, except for Jack being summoned to D.C., but even then he’d managed to make sure Mac was taken care of afterwards.

“Jack’s around…somewhere. We came in together yesterday, so, only one car. I’m just waiting for my dad to finish up with medical. Promised to take him home after.” Mac leans back in his chair and looks at her. Sometimes she has the feeling Mac can see right through her. It’s disconcerting. She thought she’d never meet anyone with such a sharp gaze again but then she met oversight and well…

“About that.” Riley drops into the chair next to Mac and takes a deep breath, gathering courage. “I think I owe you an apology.”

She’s thrown him with that statement and for a moment he’s speechless.

“I think you’re going to have to explain that to me because I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mac finally manages to get out and turns to her, waiting for an explanation.

“Your dad. Look, Mac. I shouldn’t have pushed you as hard as I did when we were in Ukraine. Your situation with your dad is pretty different from mine with Ellwood and the thing I always hated most was people thinking they knew what I should do about him.” She blurts out and closes her eyes, not wanting to see Mac’s reaction. “And there I was, doing exactly the same thing to you.”

Mac doesn’t say anything at first and Riley swears her heart is about to burst out of her chest when Mac’s hand reaches for hers where she’s been holding on to the edge of her chair tightly enough her hands are starting to ache. She didn’t even notice.

“You know, when I came back I was angry at pretty much everyone at first.” Mac begins tentatively. “You all seemed so comfortable working with my dad and it felt like everybody was pushing me to make up with him, like I was the bad guy for still being angry.” Mac entwines his fingers with hers. “But after we came back from Ukraine I realised that wasn’t really the point. You weren’t pushing me for my dad, you were doing it for yourself. Because you thought if I didn’t make up with him, I’d leave again.”

“So…you’re okay with us pushing you _because_ we were selfish?” Riley asks bewildered. She’s not sure she understands what he’s getting at.

“If it means that you want me here, then yeah.” He answers and smiles half-heartedly. “To be honest, I wasn’t all that sure of my welcome. I left pretty abruptly after all.”

Oh god, _Mac_. Riley’s finally beginning to understand why Jack worries as much about Mac’s head and heart as he worries about Mac’s general physical wellbeing. She’s still uncertain about Mac’s dad being back in his life but right know she wants to go to oversight and demand why he let this happen. Why his son, who is incredible and one of the best friends (brother) Riley’s ever had, thinks so little of his own worth that he can’t see how great he really is.

She also realises something else.

“You weren’t punishing him, were you? Your dad I mean. You were _testing_ him.” They’d all thought Mac wanted to get back at his father, making him wait so long but… “You wanted to see if he would put in the effort.” Riley silently scolds herself for not seeing it earlier. It should have been _obvious_.   

“To be fair, I’m still not sure I’d know he was oversight if I hadn’t tried to resign all those months ago. But…it hasn’t been _bad_ , you know. He actually explained why he stayed away during the mission and I realised that I don’t have to forgive him to move forward. I’m just taking it one day at a time, I guess.”

He grins at her, ruefully, and Riley feels like she’s about to cry for this strange genius man she’s come to love so much. Sometimes it still feels unreal. A few years ago she was still in prison with almost no family to speak of and then Mac and Jack came and folded her into their tightly knit family unit and gave her a home to come home to.

She’s so incredibly thankful for that.

Riley grins back at Mac and tightens her grip on his hand.

“Taking it one day at a time, huh? Works for me.”

 

_Jack finds them asleep in the lab about half an hour later. Oversight is finished with medical but he still has to deal with the red tape from the mission and yell at a few people in Washington which he’d been doing when Jack left his office. Mac is sitting in one of the chairs, Riley stretched out over three chairs next to him, her head in Mac’s lap. She’s also snoring lightly. Jack smiles fondly and takes out his phone. Never hurts to have some blackmail material for later._


End file.
